Finnick's Life
by flutist107
Summary: This is the story of Finnick.
1. Chapter 1

I wake up to my sister put pushing me out of my bed. "Finnick wake up," my sister Natalia says, "aren't we going to go down to the beach?" I get up and give her a glare, "yes, but next time loose the wakeup call." She laughs, "Ok."

I get dressed and grab a slice of bread off the table to take down to the beach to eat for breakfast. I live in District 4 and every year before the Reaping my sister and I go down to the beach and spend the day there. Natalia was my older sister, she's been the mother figure of our house since as long as I could remember. Our mom died three years after I was born, she got really sick and they couldn't do anything for her. My dad is still here, he manages a bait shop down in the Square.

I walk to the beach and see my sister digging through the sand. "What are you looking for?" I ask. She stops digging through the sand and lifts up her hand. "This," she shows me, "it's a hermit crab," she smiles. Natalia has been always been fond of wildlife.

I take out my piece of bread and tear it in half. "Would you like some bread, Natalia?" I ask. She nods her head yes and takes the other half. "Seaweed bread," she says halfway munching on the bread, "who made this?"

"Dad bought it from the market last night," I tell her. "Oh, well are you excited for the Reaping tomorrow?" She asks me.

"Never in a million years," I laugh. Since I was fourteen my name would be entered three times. Our family never took tesserae, Dad didn't want the chances of one of our name's being put in more times. We were all he had left.

"How many times is your name put in?" I ask my sister. "Just five times," she responds. She must have seen me start to pout because she puts her hand on my back and starts telling me that it will be okay. "We both are going to be fine, Finnick" she smiles, "just wait and see."

Maybe the tributes tomorrow will be volunteers. District 4 is considered a Career district, most Careers from District 4 go to the academy to train, but not a lot of people do. Last year our tributes were both volunteered Careers, the girl made it till day five and the boy made it to day seven. Cashmere, the girl from District 1 ended up being the Victor.

I sigh and stand up, "would you like to go fishing?" I ask my sister. She nods, "did you bring your trident?"

"I forgot it at home," I tell her, "let me go get it." I decide to take the longer route home just to see what the preparations are for Reaping Day. People are starting to set up in the Square, Peacekeepers are everywhere, and yet this is actually normal.

I notice one of my friends from school is at the tackle and bait shop. I decide to go talk to him for a little bit. "Hey Finnick, what are you doing?" He asks. "I've been down at the beach with Natalia all morning and I was going home to get my trident." He looks at me with a sad expression, "well I have sad news."

Sad news? He never has sad news, his family seems to have everything going good for them. "What is going on?" I ask. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

He shakes his head no, "my family signed up for a tessera." His family signed him up for a tessera! "Well, maybe the odds are in your favor and you won't get picked or maybe someone will volunteer," I tell him.

"I hope you are right," he says, "I should let you go so you can spend time with your sister." I say goodbye and turn to walk towards my house. I grab my trident from my room when I get home and go back to the beach. Natalia caught five fish already.

"Where did you get that net?" I ask. She points to a pile of seaweed a few feet from us, "it is quite simple to make, I'll show you." She starts weaving the seaweed together until she ends up with a net. "That's awesome, when did you learn how to do that?"

"School, dad, friends, a bunch of people taught me," she chuckles. We fish for a few more hours until the sun starts setting. "Shall we go home?" Natalia asks. I stand up and grab my trident and we walk home.

Our house isn't too big or too small, it is a pretty good size for our family. When we arrive at home Dad is sitting on the couch making fishing lures. "Look what we brought home Dad," Natalia says showing him the stringer filled with fish.

"Well isn't that something, are you going to cook them?" He asks Natalia. "Yes, Finnick caught most of them."

"Good job," he tells me. While Natalia makes dinner, I help Dad make fishing lures. "Did you hear about your friend?" He asks me.

"Yes, I talked to him today, I don't understand why he needed to be signed up for one anyway."

Dad sighs, "his mom lost her job and they haven't been able to pay for food."

Why hadn't I been told this sooner? I could have helped out! "Well maybe he won't get picked."

"Maybe," Dad says.

Natalia walks in and tells us that dinner is ready. She had the fish prepared on the table and set some of the seaweed bread on there too. I sit down and start to eat and Dad says his annual Reaping speech.

"No matter the outcome tomorrow I will still love both of you, if you are reaped or not I will still love you, and even if you win or die I still will love you and we will always be a family."

Natalia and I lean over and all three of us have a group hug. I still worry about Natalia and whether or not she will be picked.

We finish are meal and both of us decide to go to bed so we have enough energy in the morning. Natalia comes in my room and we have our annual Reaping talk too. "Tomorrow is a big day, but afterwards we will go down to the beach and hang out, what do you say?"

"Sounds like a plan," I smile. She leans down and kisses my forehead, "goodnight little brother."

When she leaves I look out my window, there is a perfect view of the Square from here. People are still setting up and Peacekeepers are still here. Maybe one day I can look out my window and not see people set up for such a terrible event.

Maybe one day.


	2. Chapter 2

"Finnick wake up," Natalia whispers in my ear. "What do you want?" I say half asleep. Then she pushes me out of my bed, again.

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to do that," I say glaring at her. She laughs and helps me up, "I got your outfit for the Reaping today." It's a white shirt and black pants. "What are you wearing?" I ask. She goes to her room and brings in a blue dress.

"This was Mom's dress from one of her Reapings," she says trying not to cry, "I thought it would be nice to wear it in her honor." I hug her, "you'll look just like her."

We both get changed into our outfits and go and show Dad. "Finnick, you should dress up more often." I laugh, "that would mean more reapings." Natalia walks out in her dress and Dad starts getting teary-eyed. "That's your Mother's dress." Natalia nods her head. "She would have loved to see you wear it." "Thank you," Natalia says giving him a hug. I walk over and join in and we have another group hug.

"Finnick are you ready to go?" She asks. I nod yes. Dad, Natalia, and I walk down to the Square where the Reaping will take place. We both go and get signed in. They prick your finger and then scan the blood.

The girls and boys are on separate sides of the Square. I walk over and join the rest of the fourteen year old boys and wait for the ceremony to start. My friend sees me and walks over and stands by me.

"Are you nervous Finnick?" He asks.  
"No, I am more worried for my sister. She is what keeps my family together."

"She'll be okay," he smiles.

I see Natalia standing with a group of her friends, they all look surprisingly happy. I face the stage and see a woman with lime green hair and brightly colored clothes walk out onto the stage.

"Welcome everyone to the Reaping of the 65th Hunger Games," she smiles. Why is she smiling? This isn't a happy event.

"We have a short film brought all the way from the Capitol."

The film starts by talking about the war that caused all of the chaos and how District 13 rebelled and blah blah blah. I started to zone out until the film was over.

"Wonderful film," she says, "now it is time to select our tributes for this year's Hunger Games." She walks over to the first bowl of names. "First we will select our female tribute."

I look over at my sister, she manages to keep a calm look on her face and doesn't show any signs of fear. The escort with the crazy hair sticks her hand into the bowl and selects a name.

"Carolina Parker."

Carolina? I've heard of her from somewhere. She walks onto the stage, she has brown hair and is about sixteen years old. Then I remember where I recognized her from, she used to be friends with my sister but that friendship ended several years ago.

"Now we will select our male tribute." The woman walks over to the other bowl and picks one name.

I turn to my friend and tell him, "it's not going to be you." And I was right, it wasn't going to be him.

"Finnick Odair," she said.

My heart started racing faster and faster. "Finnick," my friend said. I walked out and up onto the stage. My sister had her hand over her mouth and was trying so very hard not to cry. I tried to not show any emotion because I knew this was being broadcasted across the country.

"Your tributes for District 4, Carolina Parker and Finnick Odair." We shake hands and are immediately taken into separate rooms for our families to come and talk with us.

My dad walks in first and gives me a hug. "Remember what I said?" I nod, "yes." He releases his hug, "you can do this Finnick, you know basic survival skills and you're great with a trident."

"What if they don't have a trident?"

"Use a spear, you have the basic knowledge, believe in yourself."

The peacekeeper takes him out of the room and my sister comes in.

We hug for a majority of our time as she cried into my shoulder. "I have faith in you Finnick, don't say that you cannot do this."

"I can do this."

"Good, I love you Finnick," she says as she continues to cry.

"Same goes to you."

The peacekeeper comes in and takes her out. Those were the only two who came to visit me.

We are taken to the train that will take us to the Capitol. Inside there is lots of food, a crystal chandelier, nice furniture. "I'm Glinda and I am your escort," the lady with the crazy hair says, "I am going to go find your mentor."

Carolina and I sit down on the chairs in silence. "This sucks," she complains. "I agree," I tell her. She looks at me and asks, "in the arena do you want to be allies?"

Not hesitant to answer I say, "yes."

She smiles and then Glinda and our mentor walk in the room. Our mentor is Mags Flanagan, she won the 11th Hunger Games.

Mags walks over and sits in front, "I would like to say that I am sorry this happened to you," she tells us, "my name is Mags."

"I am Carolina."

"I'm Finnick."

"It is nice to meet you both, I think we should start by watching last year's games and the Reapings of the other tributes first."

We watched last year's games first. Cashmere killed most of her victims at night, she even killed her district partner.

Next were the Reapings. The District 1 and 2 tributes volunteered. District 10's tributes caught my eye, the girl was twelve years old and a volunteer! Maybe one of her friends got chosen.

"Well now you know who you are up against," Mags said, "we need to talk about sponsors."

"How do you get sponsors?" Carolina asked.

"If people really like you, then normally you end up with a lot of sponsors," Mags said.

"First impressions," Glinda added.

"Basically, just be who you are and you'll do great," Mags said.

"Well I am starved, can we eat dinner?" Carolina asked.

Glinda pulled out chairs for us and we sat down and started eating dinner. I was thinking about what Natalia and Dad would be eating tonight or if they even would be eating at all. I didn't want to be depressed on the rest of this trip so I decided to ask Mags a few questions.

"So what is the Victor's life like?"

Mags gave a faint chuckle, "it is quite an experience getting to come to the Capitol every year."

"Do you like being a Victor?" I ask.

"Yes and no," she said, "I like getting to meet the children of my district but I don't like the killing or having to kill people to become the Victor."

I could understand that, in a few weeks I would have to kill people myself and I can't even begin to think how hard that is going to be.

When we finished dinner Glinda showed us our bedrooms. My room had blue wallpaper and a bed right next to one of the windows. "We should be arriving in the Capitol tomorrow morning," Glinda says, "I will let you adjust to your room."

I jumped onto my bed and stared out the window. The stars were out tonight and it reminded me of home. Mags came in and decided to talk to me.

"I just thought I would come in and say goodnight."

"Thanks," I tell her.

She sits on the end of my bed, "so tell me about yourself."

I thought it was nice on how concerned she was for her tributes. "Well, I am fourteen. My mother died a few years after I was born and I live with my dad and sister."

"I'm sorry about your mom, I think you and the District 10 girl are the youngest in the games."

"Is that bad?"

"No, we can work with that. You still have lots of chances," she smiles, "get some rest."

When she leaves I continue to look out the window until my eyes flutter shut.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up and saw mountains in the distance, we must be reaching the Capitol. I walk into the dining car and see Mags and Glinda eating slices of toast.

"Good morning Finnick," Mags says, "sit down and have some toast."

I sit down across from Glinda and grab a piece of toast and spread some strawberry jelly on it. Carolina walks in with her hair pulled up into a braid, "what's for breakfast?"

"There is toast, butter, and jam on the table," Glinda says.

Carolina sits down beside me and starts to eat a plain slice of toast. I continue to eat my bread when I see a building in the distance.

"Glinda, is that the Capitol?" I ask making my way towards the window.

Glinda stands up and walks over to the window beside me, "I believe so."

"When you start to see people, smile and wave," Mags says.

The Capitol was huge, there were skyscrapers, a large lake, mountains, it was perfect. As our train pulled into the station people started chanting my name. They didn't cheer for Carolina, it was just me and it felt kind of odd.

I waved back at the people and then Mags, Glinda, Carolina, and I were taken off the train. Glinda took Carolina and I to our prep team were we would get ready for the Tribute Parade tonight.

Like Glinda, my prep team had crazy colored hair. Getting prepped is not a fun experience, but it was quick and then they took me to my stylist.

My stylist walked in a few minutes after I got there, she looked somewhat normal. "My name is Annabelle and I will be your stylist."

"I'm Finnick."

"Nice to meet you, so for your costume I wanted to see the color blue. I made a blue outfit and it has a weaved net cape with a seaweed crown."

I was praying that the other District's costumes looked worse than ours but I had a feeling they wouldn't be. "The crown is supposed to symbolize the hope of becoming a Victor," she said, "I have the costume right here and now it is your job to put on the outfit."

I took the hanger and put on the outfit, yep I look ridiculous. Annabelle walked me down to the chariot loading area. Carolina and her stylist were down there already. We had the same outfit.

Carolina mouthed to me, "We look ridiculous."

I laughed. The other districts had the same costumes, trees, coal miners, power plant workers. Carolina and I got into our chariot.

"Smile and wave," Mags told us, then our chariots were off.

I did as Mags told me, when I saw the audience I started to wave and smile at everyone. I could here girls screaming my name and shouting stupid things like, "I love you Finnick." People were ridiculous.

Each chariot formed a circle around the area where President Snow would be giving his speech. I looked up as President Snow walked up and started his speech.

"Tributes, we welcome you and wish you happy Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor." By judging the looks of the rest of the tributes the odds were not in my favor.

We meet Mags and our stylists back where the chariot loading was. Mags was chatting with another mentor when we arrived.

"Oh you two did such a wonderful job!" Mags said.

"Thank you," Carolina and I both say.

"Carolina, Finnick, I would like you to meet Haymitch Abernathy."

"It's nice to meet you two," he said shaking my hand.

Haymitch won the second Quarter Quell which had twice as many tributes. He left when his tributes arrived.

Mags took us up to our room. Each district had their own floor. The rooms were just like the train, fancy. Mags let Carolina and I pick our rooms. The bedrooms had a huge bed and a large window. I sat in the windowsill and looked out at the Capitol.

Mags came into my room and talked with me about the Tribute Parade. "I had several people tell me in the audience talk about sponsoring you."

Wait, did she say sponsor me? This was great! "How many people talked to you?"

She thought for a moment, "about five."

I almost fell onto the floor, "five people!"

Mags laughed, "yes people kept talking about how gorgeous you are."

Gorgeous? That's new. "You mean people thought I was attractive?"

Mags nodded, "yeah, people really liked you," she said, "maybe we can use this for your angle."

"Hmm.. Maybe," I tell her.

Mags got up, "goodnight Finnick."

I notice a remote is beside my bed. I pick it up and press a button and it changes the scenery of the window, in case you didn't want to look out at the Capitol. To me it looks like each scene represents the landscape of each district.

I keep flipping through the scenes until I come across one of a beach. It shows the water crashing against the rocks, seagulls flying in the air, seaweed washing up on the shore. I smiled and started to feel homesick. I decided to get a drink of water to get rid of the feeling.

When I got into the living room I saw Carolina at the table reading a note. "What's that?" I ask sitting down beside her with my glass of water.

"It's from my sister. She gave it to me when she came to say goodbye."

I could tell she missed her a lot, "Is this your token?"

"I guess, I was going to have Mags give it to me after I win."

"You think you'll win?"

She smiled and looked at me, "one can hope. What did you bring for your token?"

I laugh a little, "I didn't bring anything."

She didn't bring up anything else family related. She knew most of the stuff about my family since she used to be Natalia's friend.

I finished my water and decided to go to bed, "night Carolina."

"Night Finnick," she replied back.

Hopefully we can still have a good alliance, even though we both know in the end only one of us comes out alive.


	4. Chapter 4

I anticipated for my sister to push me out of my bed. I kept waiting and waiting but nothing happened. When I woke up reality hit me and I realized that I was in the Capitol and she was in District 4. There was an outfit on my dresser with a note attached saying that this was my training outfit.

I went to the bathroom and took a quick shower and then changed into my training outfit. Carolina and Mags were sitting by the door waiting to take us to the training center. We got in the elevator and made our way down to the lobby of the Tribute Center.

"Are you nervous about training?" Carolina asked me.

"No, I think I will be fine."

When we arrive at the training center we are the fifth district to show up. Carolina went over to the girl from District 9 and started talking to her.

"Well there went that alliance," I mumble to myself.

I look up and see Carolina talk to the red-headed girl from District 9. Carolina brings her over, "Finnick this is Macey and she was wondering if she could join our alliance." Macey starts to smile at me as if she is trying to force me to let her join.

I don't want her to join, but I don't want Carolina to kill me if I don't. "Fine," I sigh, "she can join."

Now I have to start thinking of ways I can get out of this alliance. When the rest of the tributes show up we gather in a circle around the head trainer. She discusses things about survival skills and things to do to survive.

As I look around the room I see no tridents, just my luck. On the bright side, there is a fishing lure station. I decide to make my way over to that station and start tying fishing lures. I always used to help my dad make the lures to sell at the shop, so this brought a lot of memories of home back to me.

There is another station that I take interest in, the campfire station. I grab a few sticks and rocks and try lighting a fire, but nothing happens. The boy from District 11 walks over and shows me how to start a fire correctly.

We talk for a little while, but I don't mention alliances. I try lighting the fire again and this time I can get it started.

I see that the Careers have started forming their alliance. Both tributes from District 1 are at the spear throwing station. The girl from District 2 is at the archery station and she hits the same spot every time. Her partner is at the spear station with the District 1 tributes. All of them are older than me and a lot stronger. If I had a trident I could probably kill all of them easily.

It reached lunchtime and we all went into a room to eat. Today's meal was some kind of soup. I got my soup and went down and sat by Carolina and Macey. "Hey Finnick," Macey says, "how has training been going?"

"Good," I say as I slurp my soup, "how's yours?"

"It's been going good so far, Carolina has been teaching me the ropes of fishing."

I continue to eat my soup when I hear the Careers start to talk about me.

"That District 4 kid is going to be our biggest concern," the District 1 male says.

"How so?"

"Everyone loves him because they think he is attractive and that means everyone is going to sponsor him!"

"Are you implying that we kill him first?" the girl from District 2 adds.

The District 1 male sees me listening in on their conversation and I smirk and wave at them.

"We can talk about this later," he tells them.

Well, I know that the Careers want me dead. This is great! Maybe I won't have to deal with them and they will all die of natural causes, one can only hope.

When lunch ends we go back into training and I make my way to the knot tying station. I spend the rest of my time at that station until it is time to go back to our rooms.

We have two more days of training and then we have our private scoring session. Carolina is still with her new ally. I think it is best if I stay allies with the both of them. We get in the elevator and press the buttons 4 and 9. When we get to our floor Mags is there to greet us.

"How did training go?" she asks.

"Finnick and I have a new ally," she says putting her arm around my neck, "she's from District 9."

"You formed an ally," I mumbled to myself. Mags must have heard me because she put her finger to her lips telling me to be quiet, but it was the truth. I had nothing to do with this alliance.

I decide to take a shower because I smell like rotten fish. After I shower I go to my room, get dressed, and sit in the windowsill. Mags comes in my room like normal.

"It's ok to tell them you don't want to be in their alliance, Finnick."

I guess I made it pretty obvious that I didn't want to team up with them. Nothing against them, they would just drag me down.

"You understand why, right?" I ask.

"Sometimes being in an alliance isn't always the best thing."

"What do you mean?" I ask her.

"Well, someone could get sick or injured, someone could turn on someone in the group and then you would end up getting killed," she lists, "there are a number of possibilities."

"Do you think I should stay or leave?" this was something I honestly didn't know what to do. Carolina is my district partner, but Macey could turn on us any second. If she was still alive.

"Wait and see what happens in the Cornucopia," Mags says, "if the District 9 girl lives don't join and if she dies then ally with Carolina."

"Thanks Mags," I say standing up to give her a hug. Mags was starting to grow on me and become like a family member to me. When Mag left I stared out the window again. This windowsill was my favorite spot in the entire room.

I noticed something strange when I looked down at the people walking on the sidewalks near the Tribute Center. Cashmere, the girl from District 1 who won last year, was walking towards the Tribute Center wearing a black coat and she was crying. In her hand she held a box that was wrapped in green wrapping paper. Then she sat down on a bench and continued to cry.

"Hey Mags!" I yelled for her, "can you come here for a minute?"

Mags came back into my room, "is something wrong?" she asked very concerned.

"Not with me, with Cashmere," I point her out to Mags who is now sitting at the windowsill with me, "why is she out this late and crying?"

Mags saw her and instantly said, "I don't know."

"Should you go talk to her?" I ask.

"Nope nothing is wrong with her, she is ok." Then Mags got up and left my room.

I watched as Cashmere got up and brushed the tears away from her face. She put the present in her coat, as if meaning to keep it hidden. Then she fake smiled and walked into the Tribute Center.

Mags was lying to me. Something was wrong with Cashmere. As much as I wanted to find out what was going on with her I knew I shouldn't. If Mags went through the trouble to lie about why she was so upset, why she was out so late there was a deeper reason. And maybe it was best I didn't find out.


	5. Chapter 5

I decide to spend some time over at the rope tying station. It's the second day of training and still no trident.

Carolina and Macey walk over to the station and decide to start making plans for the arena. "So when the gong goes off we will meet somewhere close to the arena," Macey said.

The two girls continued to have a conversation about the arena until I interrupted them. "Say all three of us make it to the end. Then what? The alliance will have no choice but to split."

Carolina gives me a drop dead kind of look. "That isn't going to happen Finnick," she claims.

"What if it does?" I ask.

"It isn't going to happen!"

Macey pats Carolina on the shoulder, "I think that it's going to be alright. Just everyone calm down and go about our own business."

Macey took Carolina over to the knife throwing station and showed her how to throw knives. I guess for a girl from District 9.

I stayed at the rope tying station for the rest of the day till lunch. I sat by myself, Macey and Carolina have started excluding me from their clique since the incident at the rope station.

I miss my lunches that I had at home. My sister and I would go down to the beach and have lunch there. During school the teacher would let us eat outside to get some fresh air.

Here we eat in a gloomy, gray room filled with about six brown tables. Each day the lunch is the same, which is why I skipped today's meal.

When our lunch break is over I go back to the rope station. The boy from District 10 comes over to the rope station and sees me sitting on the ground.

"Tough day?" he asks.

"Every day since the reaping has been tough."

"I know. My sister was in the games, she obviously didn't win."

"I'm so sorry," I tell him.

He chuckles, "she was a bit of an asshole anyway."

He starts tying the knots and ignores me. I stand up and ask the head trainer if I can leave, which to my surprise she lets me.

I excuse myself and go up to the room. Mags is sitting on the couch reading a book when I walk in through the door.

"Finnick? What are you doing back?" she asks.

"I didn't feel like continuing training and I don't feel like going tomorrow either."

Mags gets a sad look, "well why ever not?"

I sigh, "Carolina is mad and is already formed an alliance that I don't want to be in and I have no chance of winning."

Mags chuckles and gestures me to sit beside her, "no one wins, Finnick. This is just to entertain the Capitol."

"Then how do I make it out of there?" I ask.

Carolina walks in the door before Mags has time to answer. "Why the hell did you leave?" Carolina yells at me.

"Why should I stay there? You and Macey are in an alliance and to be honest I don't want to be in it!" I scream right back at her. "This whole alliance is the total opposite of what I wanted!"

"If that's what you want then so be it. But remember Odair, things change." Carolina walks to her room and slams the door shut.

I turn to Mags who looks confused on what just happened. "Finnick, I think it is best if you go to your room too."

"But Mags I," she cuts me off.

"Go Finnick!"

I get up and go to my room like Mags said. The sun is beginning to set when I look out the window. I get into my bed and stare up at the ceiling.

Mags knocks on the door. "Come in," I tell her.

Mags creaks open the door and sits down on my bed. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better. If you came to talk to me about Carolina, I am not mad about her. I'm glad that I'm not in the alliance and besides, only one person comes out alive."

"And that person will be you," Mags says, "I watch and see the people around me react to you. You've practically got the whole Capitol falling head over heals for you."

I guess my angle was working. This means that now I have to be a bigger flirt than I am already being.

During our talk the Capitol TV came on. Caesar Flickerman came on and announced that the interviews were in a few days.

"Oh joy," I tell Mags.

Mags gives her sweet laugh, "that is the easiest part of this whole game."

I was hoping she was right. At this point I could use a little break.

The next morning I skipped training again. For that whole day I spent it with Mags practicing my interview that would be the next day.

"When you are doing your interview be sure to emphasize a lot of your angle."

"So flirt with the audience some more?" I ask.

"Exactly!" Mags said.

We went over random questions that may be asked. This was the most fun I had had for a while.

And I really enjoyed it.


	6. Chapter 6

Mags and I continued to prep for the interview until I realized what today was.

"Mags our interviews aren't today are they?" I ask.

"No you have scoring. Yesterday was the last day of training. Remember, you skipped it?"

"I'm going to be late! I need to get ready."

I didn't need to be late for my scoring! I couldn't be late for my scoring! I ran into my room and changed into my training outfit and then ran all the way to the training center.

I try to play it casual when I walk through the door. Carolina looks at in shock.

"Where have you been?" she whispers in an angry tone.

"I was working on something with Mags. I forgot we had scores today."

A voice over an intercalm told us who was up for scoring. The scoring went in district order. I didn't have too long of a wait until it was my turn.

"Finnick Odair," the intercalm said.

I stood up and walked into the training room. All the weapons were placed in the same spots that they always were. I still didn't see any tridents.

"I guess a spear will have to work."

The gamemakers watched my every move. I picked up my spear and carefully placed my target and then threw it. The spear landed right in his chest.

I threw more spears at different targets and they hit in the same spot each time. The timer went off and I was escorted out of the room.

The evaluation process took three days, which gave me more time to work on interviews with Mags. When the scores were going to be announced all of our "crew" were in our room.

Mags, Glinda, Annabelle, Carolina's stylist, Carolina, and I all crowded on the couch waiting for the scores to be announced.

Both the tributes from District 1 got 10, both from 2 got 10, District 3 got 4 and 5. Up next was our district.

"Carolina Parker, with a score of 7."

Everyone cheered for her and almost missed my score.

"Finnick Odair, with a score of 10."

Did I hear that correctly? I got a 10! I had the same score as all of the Careers, which means that they probably will either want to form an alliance with me or have me be their first kill.

"Good job," Mags tells me.

Carolina's friend Macey received an 8 for her score. I bet she probably threw knives.

When the broadcast was over, Mags told me to go to my room because she had something important to tell me.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I had four new people ask about sponsoring you."

"Wasn't the number five, before?"

Mags nods her head yes, "you have nine people who want to sponsor you. Tomorrow night you will need to do everything you can to get more."

"I'm not that good of a public speaker though."

"Finnick, they don't care about what you are saying. The only thing they care about is how attractive you are and how you act and what you say to flatter people."

"So I need to answer everything in a flirtatious kind of way?"

"As bad as it sounds, yes."


	7. Chapter 7

Interviews are the worst. I'm not just saying that because I am in the games and all that stuff, I say it because it is true. The preparing and the outfits, it's all terrible.

"What do you think?" Annabelle asks me about my outfit.

"It makes me look better than normal."

Annabelle laughs and takes me to Glinda, who then takes me backstage to where all the other tributes are.

I go stand in line by Carolina. Our outfits are matching, they are both a light shade of blue with white around my sleeves and the edge of her dress to look like sea foam.

"Are you nervous?" she asks me.

"No, I think I am ready."

She smiles, "you know your sister and I used to give speeches all the time."

"She never mentioned that."

I can see her face change her expression, but before I could say anything the interviews were starting.

There is a giant TV on the wall so that all the other tributes could watch them. They went in district order, like usual.

All the Careers talked about how they trained and how they were destined to win. Next thing I knew, Carolina was on stage.

She talked about her family and how District 4 was the best district ever, to be honest she isn't wrong. When her time was up I started to feel nervous, but I know I can't show it.

"Please welcome Finnick Odair," Caesar announced.

I walk out on stage and smile to the audience. I take a seat beside Caesar and we start the questions.

"Finnick, you managed to score a 10 and while being one of the younger tributes. How'd you do it?"

I laugh, "I guess it was luck."

"Well that must have been some good luck. What do you think of the Capitol?"

I hate it and I want to leave and never come back here again.

"I love it! But it's not the buildings I love the most."

"Then what is it?" Caesar asks.

"The people."

The audience goes into a frenzy and start shouting things. Half the time I don't think they know what they are saying.

"The people are so generous and caring. It is truly amazing to see how nice people can be."

"Well yes it is. We wish you luck in the arena tomorrow. Ladies and gentleman, Finnick Odair!"

I stand up and wave to the audience and then walk off stage.

Mags and Glinda are waiting with Carolina by the TV near the elevators.

When Mags sees me she gives me a thumbs up. I smile and we all go up to our room.

When we get to our room Glinda and Mags make us sit on the couch. Carolina and I sit on the couch and wait for them to say what they were going to tell us.

"We want you to know that we are both proud of you. No matter what happens just know that it doesn't change you or make you a monster." Glinda says.

"Remember you still have the same to get out of the arena as everyone else. I believe in both of you and I want you to know that." Mags says.

"Thank you Mags." I say.

We all exchange a few hugs amongst each other and then we go to bed. I wait a few minutes and then go back into the living room while everyone is asleep. I sit by the window and watch people in the City Circle celebrate the start of the games.

"It's sickening isn't it?"

I turn around and see Carolina standing behind me. "Yeah," that's all I say.

"You should go to bed," she says sitting beside me.

"This helps me sleep."

"I remember watching last year's games and I watched my best friend die on television." Carolina said.

"Zoey was your best friend?"

"Yep. We had been best friends since as long as I could remember. When my name was announced I felt so scared and then I started to think that if I won it would help me feel like she was still here with me."

"There are no winners," I say as I look out the window.

She laughs and stands back up, "I don't know about you but I am tired. See you in the morning."

I hope morning takes forever to get here, but it doesn't.

Before I knew it, I was getting dressed and walking to the hovercraft with Mags and Carolina.

"Remember what I told you Finnick?" Mags said.

"Yes," I say giving her a hug good bye.

We board on the hovercraft and I am stuck sitting between the sweaty District 9 boy and the boy from District 2.

A lady comes around a shoves a giant needle into everyone's arm. "What was that?" I ask.

"Your tracker. It helps people know where you are in the arena," she tells me.

Once everyone has their trackers in, we take off for the arena. I can see my hand start shaking and I immediately try and get it to stop so that way I don't look weak for being nervous.

When the hovercraft lands we are taken underground to meet with our stylist. Annabelle greets me with a hug and takes me over to put on my jacket.

"You are going to be ok," she tells me.

"I know, I just need to let this sink in that this is really happening."

An announcer over the intercom says that there are ten seconds till launch. I walk over to the tube and the screen around me shuts.

"This is really happening, this is really happening, this is really happening," I mutter to myself.

Then without hesitation the tube begins to rise. At first it is so bright that I can't see anything and then I can make out a forest. From what I can tell there is no water near the Cornucopia.

"Great," I mumble to myself.

The clock has been counting down from 60 seconds. I look at the other tributes and I see that I am standing beside Macey and the boy from District 5.

"Ladies and gentleman, let the 65th Hunger Games begin."


	8. Chapter 8

10..9..8

I don't see any trident!

7..6..5

There is a bag that I think I can reach.

4..3..2

Oh, shit this is happening!

1!

I run towards the bag that I spotted. I manage to grab it before anyone reaches me. I take off running through the forest and leave the bloodbath.

I run as far as my legs will take me. To my luck they ran me to a small pond. I sit down by a tree and start looking through my bag to see what I got.

Two small pocket knives, an empty water bottle, a bag of pretzels, and some matches. I take my water bottle and get some water from the pond.

Before I begin to drink it I realize that I can't. I don't have anything to purify this with.

"Dammit," I say to myself. I keep the water in the bottle and put the lid on. As I walk through the woods, cannons begin to fire. I counted to at least ten.

I climb up into a tree because I don't feel like walking any further. No one runs passed the tree for the rest of the day, other than a few rabbits and squirrels.

I ponder on whether it is a good idea to take a nap or not. I am going to go with it's not.

I look in my bag to see if there is anything that I missed. I find a pair of gloves with the fingers cut out in the bottom of the bag.

"Finnick!" a voice shouts from the bottom of the tree.

I almost fall out of the tree and then I see that it is Carolina.

"You're still alive?" I say surprised.

"I'm standing here talking to you aren't I?"

I laugh and jump down from the tree. "Umm your forehead is bleeding."

Carolina lifts up her hand and feels her forehead. "Do you have medicine or something to fix it?"

"Nope. How did you get cut?"

She starts to laugh, "funny story actually. I was walking with Macey when she decided to try and kill me."

"The alliance was a scam?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

We walk and gather supplies to make camp. Night falls before we can finish setting up our base. The Capitol anthem starts to play and the words "The Fallen" appear in the sky.

The girl from District 1, both from District 3, both from 5, the boy from 7, the boy from 9, both from 10, and the girl from 12.

"The girl from District 1 died! How?" I ask.

"She was threw a knife at the girl from 10 and just as she threw it the boy from 10 strangled her to death and then the boy from 1 avenged in his partner's death."

We continue to set up most of our camp. I climb back up in my tree and fall asleep. As I sleep I hear a beeping noise. A sponsor gift is coming towards me.

I open it and see a bottle filled with stuff to purify water. I jump down from my tree and take my bag to the pond, leaving Carolina behind.

I pour some new water in my bottle and add the drops of purifier into the bottle. I wait for a few minutes before I drink the water.

I put my drops in the backpack and decide to save them, I will probably need them again. I walk back to our base and I start to hear voices.

My first response is to climb up a tree, which I do.

"He is still alive," the boy from 1 says.

It is the Careers and I am pretty sure they are talking about me.

"Well when we find him I want to kill him," the girl from 2 says.

The Careers keep walking on their own little merry way. I need to find a weapon and soon! I look around for things that I could use to make a weapon out of.

There are some trees a few feet in front of me that are covered with vines. I get out one of my pocket knives and start to cut down some vines.

It is still dark and kind of hard to see, but I try to tie the vines together to make a net. By the time the sun rises I successfully made one net.

I take my backpack and net and go back to the base. When I get there I see that Carolina left. I am not going to try to search for her, I need to worry about myself.

I decide to go search for more supplies to make a weapon with when another sponsor gift comes to me. This time it is some seaweed bread from home.

I take a tiny piece and eat it. I try and save all the food and water I have to last me through the games.

As I eat the bread it reminds me of my sister. I wonder what she is doing right now.

When I finish my bread I put it back in my bag and continue to just wonder around the woods. A cannon goes off and the hovercraft comes to take the body. From what I can tell it was a darker skinned girl, probably the girl from District 11.

I end up walking towards the tree line between the forest and the Cornucopia. Somehow Carolina ended up behind me.

"Where have you been?"

I decide to not tell her about the water purifiers I had. "I found some vines and made this net."

"Nice, I just got back from killing someone."

"The girl from 11?"

She nods her head yes. "Have you seen Macey?"

"I haven't seen anyone all morning," I tell her.

I feel like she is keeping something from me. Maybe her and Macey are still in the alliance and they are secretly planning to kill me?

I grab my bag and walk back into the woods. The sky goes from a beautiful sky blue to a dark gray.

"It must be getting to rain," Carolina says.

"Maybe. Should we go back to the base?" I ask.

"I think we are fine here."

We sit down beside the trees and sit for a moment. The clouds turn into rain clouds. I feel a small feeling of pain on my arm, "Oww. What was that?"

"Maybe it was just a mosquito," Carolina says.

The pain keeps getting stronger as the rain keeps pouring down harder and harder. I hold my hand out and see that my whole arm is covered in boils.

"The rain! It's toxic!" I shout.

I grab my net and bag and make a dash outside the forest hoping that it will not be raining there. I was wrong.

"We have to go to the Cornucopia," Carolina says.

I try and run, but I am getting weaker and so is Carolina. I make it to the Cornucopia and there are no Careers in sight.

"Carolina we made it," I say expecting to see her behind me. "Carolina?"

I look outside and see her body lying on the ground. I dig through my bag to find my gloves and slip them on.

I rush outside over to where she is lying. "Carolina are you alright? Carolina?" the cannon goes off.

As soon as her cannon fires the rain stops. I take her backpack and gather her supplies and take them back to the Cornucopia.

I sort through her things. She had a bag of jerky, a small knife, and some wire. I can hear the hovercraft pick up her body and take it away from the arena.

District 4 is probably going to have the moment of silence right about now. Whenever a tribute from 4 dies we remain silent for a few minutes to honor that person's gratitude and contribution to the games.

I feel kind of bad for her because she couldn't win for her friend. But like many people have said before…

Only one person comes out alive.


	9. Chapter 9

I grab my bag from inside the Cornucopia and leave, heading in the opposite direction that I came. I walk around the forest when another sponsor gift comes down. It was a trident!

When it reached the ground I immediately ran to grab it. The trident was all silver and was one of the nicest tridents I have ever seen.

"Let's go get these games over with."

I grab my trident and bag and start walking around the forest till I find someone. I end up by the pond and I can see a girl getting some water from the pond. It was Macey.

I take my net out of my bag and walk towards Macey. "Hi Macey, how have you been doing?"

"I was gathering water. Did you know that another Career died?"

"Which one?" why am I asking this?

"Boy from 1," she said as she got an evil look on her face, "I killed him this morning."

I must not have been paying attention.

"Nice trident you have there."

"It was a sponsor gift and then I just made the net. Do you want to see how it works?" I ask her.

"Sure," she nods.

I throw the net on her and that is when she gets the realization of what is happening.

"Wait, you're trying to kill me!"

I step on her arm with my foot as she tries to escape. "Well that is how you get out of the arena."

"We were allies Finnick!"

"No," I say shoving the trident into her stomach slowly, "we weren't." the cannon fires.

I search through her bag and see that she had a few throwing knives and that was about it. She probably would've died sooner or later from lack of food and water, besides the water source she just found.

The remainder of the Career pack would kill all the other tributes remaining. What am I going to do when the Careers find me? What if it is me versus the Careers? I can't kill them.

Another cannon fires. I went back to the place that Carolina and I had set up base. All of our stuff was still there. I climbed up in the tree and sat there for the rest of the day.

Cannon after cannon fired and it sounded like the bloodbath all over again. I would guess by the number of cannons fired since the start of the games that about five tributes remained.

I can hear a voice screaming at the top of their lungs. "You killed my district partner! You killed her!"

It sounded like the boy from District 6 and then another voice responded.

"I didn't kill her! Maybe it was one of the Careers." That sounded like the boy from District 12.

I continued to listen to them argue until I couldn't take it anymore. I jump down from my tree and grab my trident and follow the sound.

When the boy from 12 sees me he throws a knife at my forehead. I am able to kill him before he throws anymore knives at me.

The boy from 6 stands up and doesn't move. His left leg is badly cut, killing him would put him out of his misery.

He closes his eyes and accepts his fate. I throw the trident and he dies instantly.

"Only a few more left."

That night all the tributes pictures were shown. Carolina's was the first one and seeing it made me feel kind of bad.

Both from District 2 and the girl from 7 remained. I can just wait till the morning to kill them. As I start to fall asleep an announcement comes through the whole arena.

"Attention tributes, we would like you all to meet in the middle of the arena at the Cornucopia tomorrow at dawn for the final battle. If you fail to show up the area around you will self-destruct. This will be the only announcement. Thank you and may the odds be ever in your favor."

I guess I am getting no sleep tonight. I jump down from my tree and take only my net and trident. If it's the final battle I won't have a use for all the other stuff.

I reach up and feel that my forehead is still bleeding. I take some medicine that I had received as a sponsor gift and apply it to my forehead, hopefully it can heal overnight.

I decide to go back to the Cornucopia and sleep in the bushes surrounding it. I fall asleep with my trident in my hand just in case. I couldn't hear any footprints around me, I guess I am safe for now.

I wake up a few minutes later and see that someone is running towards the Cornucopia. That must be the girl from District 7. She sits near the mouth of the Cornucopia with a bow and arrow in her hand.

I look up and see that the sun is starting to rise. The gamemakers must have rose the sun early to throw other tributes off on the time.

I grab my trident and run to the middle of the arena when I hear a loud explosion. In the sky it shows a picture of the girl from 2, but not the boy.

I continue to run when all of a sudden the boy from 2 grabs my neck from behind and starts to choke me. The girl from 7 decides to join in and she starts firing arrows at the boy from 2.

I reach for my trident and stand back up. Everyone has their weapon pointed at someone.

"So it came down to us," says the girl from 7.

"I just want you to know that neither of you are going to make it out," the boy from 2 says.

"Actually," I say shoving my trident into his stomach, "you're wrong."

Seconds later his cannon fires and it is just me and the girl from 7.

The girl from District 7 and I fight each other for about five minutes until I am able to shove the trident into her throat.

The last sound I hear of her is her choking on her own blood. The cannon fires and the games are over.

"Ladies and gentleman, may I present the winner of the 65th Hunger Games."

I fall onto my knees and wait for the hovercraft to come get me.

When I reach the Capitol the first one to greet me is Mags.

"Mags," I say running up to her giving her a hug.

"I knew you could do it," she says hugging me back. "Should we go back to the room and wait till your interview?"

I nod my head and we go back to our room. I sit down on the couch and just stare blankly at the wall in front of me.

Later that evening I get ready for the Victor's interview and head down to the stage.

When Caesar announces my name I give a fake smile and walk onto the stage.

"Finnick, you said in the beginning something about luck. Do you think you had that luck during the games?"

"I think the generosity of the Capitol helped me survived, helped me win, and helped me become a Victor."

The audience cheers and it makes me sick. The more questions Caesar asks the more spaced out I get until the interview is finally over.

I am taken outside to the place where the tribute parade was and am crowned the Victor in front of the entire Capitol.

"Congratulations," President Snow says.

I give a small nod, "thank you sir."

When the events are over Mags and I board the train to go home.

I look out the window and see the trees pass by. "Is this what it felt like to win your games?" I ask Mags.

"No Finnick, I think you are feeling worse."

It takes the rest of the day and part of the next to get home. When we arrive at home I am greeted by everyone in the district.

I search in the crowd and see my sister waving at me. It is at that moment that I feel home, that I feel safe.


	10. Chapter 10

Months later my Victory Tour had begun. I had to see the faces of the family members of people that I had killed and give a speech about them. Today was the final stop in the Capitol.

"Last stop Finnick! Aren't you excited?" Glinda asks.

"I'm so excited," I say sarcastically.

When we arrive in the Capitol I have to wear a black tux with blue flames on the sleeves. The greeting crowd cheers me on as we head to the President's Mansion.

The Capitol is lit up in various colors that illuminate in the night sky. Glinda tells me that I need to go eat from the buffet.

"Oh Finnick we have missed you," a woman with orange hair says.

"I've missed you too," I say even though I have no idea who this lady is.

A lady comes over to the buffet. "President Snow has requested to meet with you in his office."

What could Snow possibly need? I do as the woman says and follow her to his office inside his mansion.

"Egeria if you would please leave the room. I would like to talk to Mr. Odair alone," President Snow says to the lady who escorted me here.

"Have a seat Finnick."

I sit down in front of his desk, "did you need something sir?"

He chuckles, "people in the Capitol have really started to become fond of you."

"I can see that. People are really friendly here."

"Those sponsors would be willing to spend pay for a night with a Victor. Most of the sponsors talk about spending them with you Mr. Odair."

"I'm sorry I don't understand. Are you talking about prostitution?"

"Precisely. Now if you would sign this contract saying that you have agreed to do this you are free to go back to the party."

"No, I refuse. I am not going to be forced into this."

"Finnick Odair, I want you to look at what happens when you say no to this contract."

He turns the screen on his desk around to face me. There stands Natalia and a peacekeeper outside of my new house in Victor's Village. The peacekeeper pushes her onto her knees and puts his gun to her head and pulls the trigger.

I cover my mouth with my hands to keep from crying or cursing out Snow.

"Do you agree to sign the contract now?"

I nod my head and pick up his pen and sign the contract.

Snow roles up the contract and puts it in his suit. "Good, you will start business during the 66th Hunger Games and if you refuse to meet with a client there will be consequences."

I start to walk out the door when President Snow stops me.

"Oh and Finnick. If you tell anyone about this conversation there will be consequences."

"Yes, sir."

The rest of that night I was forced to pretend like I was happy and that I was having fun. That second we boarded the train was the best thing ever and I couldn't wait to go home.

I laid down on my bed and cried. Mags came into the room and started asking me questions.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I can't tell you, they will kill you too."

"Ohhh they can't hurt me. Now tell me what is going on."

"Snow is making me hook up with people and he killed my sister because at first I wouldn't sign his contract."

Mags sits me up and starts hugging me, "I am so sorry, Finnick."

"That night that I saw Cashmere coming back to the Tribute Center, she was with a client wasn't she?"

"Yes, dear."

When we arrived at home I was welcomed by my dad.

"I am so sorry I caused this," I tell him.

"It is not your fault. I know why they killed her. Mags told me the minute she found out."

"Where is she?"

"We buried her down by the beach."

I ran down to the beach and saw her tombstone. "Natalia Odair, daughter, sister, friend."

I could feel the tears starting to fall from my face again.

"Natalia, I didn't mean to get you killed. This is my fault, I'm sorry that you had to be the one to suffer for it. I remember how we used to come down to the beach and hang out, how we used to go fishing and swimming. We made some good memories down at this beach and I hope you can make more memories in heaven. Please don't forget about me up there. I'm so sorry."

I look down at her grave and the clip Snow showed me kept replaying in my head.

I burry my face in my hands, "I am so sorry."


	11. Chapter 11

A couple months pass since Natalia's unexpected death. I now get to live the horrors of the contract that I signed, I get to watch more people in District 4 get reaped. But this year I am their mentor.

Mags and I wait on the train for the tributes to come aboard. When they finally come on board I can tell that this bunch didn't decide to attend the Career's Training School.

The girl is a young blonde, about thirteen years old. The boy I recognize instantly. His name is Max, his dad works down at the docks.

"I'm Mags and this is Finnick," Mags says. "This year we will be your mentors and we will help you in any way we can."

"Can you get us out of the games?" The girl asks.

"I'm afraid not," Mags laughs. "So what are both of your names?"

The girl coughed, "I'm Maysie."

"Max," the boy says.

"Well, it is very nice to meet both of you. Finnick will you turn the tv on?"

I got up and turned on the tv to the rest of the districts' reapings. I chose to let Mags take over for the rest of the day and I went to my room.

While the tributes are watching the reapings, Mags comes into my room. "Just like old times isn't it," Mags says sitting beside me.

I sigh, "yup. I think this round is worse than last year's."

Mags puts her arm around me, "we can get through this. But you don't have to meet with people in secret."

"No, but maybe one day the games will stop."

"The games will never stop."

"You never know. Maybe someone will spark a light in the Capitol's eyes and then all this will change."

"Are you saying that person is me?" I ask Mags.

She smiles, "you never know."

The rest of the evening went by quickly and before I knew it I was sound asleep.

 _The smell of roses fills the room. I can't see where the smell is coming from but I know it is there. "Finnick please don't leave," a woman's voice says._

 _I turn around and see Natalia holding a white rose in her hand. She holds the rose out to me, "I got this for you Finnick," she says._

 _I smile and run towards her and then out of nowhere a peacekeeper shoots her._

" _Natalia!" I can't run towards her. I watch the blood turn the rose red and I can't help her. All I hear is Natalia. "Finnick, do something!"_

I scream and Mags rushes into the room as fast as she can for her age.

"Finnick what's wrong?"

"They killed her, they killed Natalia again." I feel my face and tears are running from my eyes. I haven't cried since her death, but this felt like I was reliving it again.

Mags sits beside me and hugs me, "it was just a nightmare. Everything is alright."

"They're going to kill everyone."

"No they are not. I won't let that happen." Mags says assuring. "Would you like me to stay with you?"

"No, I'll be fine."

Mags leaves and I can't sleep. I don't want to sleep. The fear of that nightmare coming back haunts me until I come to the resolution of "I can handle this."

I go back to sleep and the nightmare doesn't come back, I may actually be able to have a good sleep.

I woke up and went to meet Mags and the other tributes in the dining room.

"Morning Finnick," Maysie says.

"Good morning to you too," I say.

Max looks down at his wrist. He is looking at a handmade bracelet made from some fishing line and shells.

"Is that your token?" I ask.

Max nods, "it is from my sister, she is too young to realize what the games are."

"That's tough," I tell him. "Maybe you can win for her."

That made him smile.

When the train arrived at the Capitol's station the escort took them to meet with the prep team. Meanwhile, Mags and I went to our room.

We had the same room as last year. "Well nothing has changed, except maybe the furniture," I say.

Mags laughs and sits down on the couch, "we need to talk about sponsors."

"But I already know about sponsors."

"No I mean from a mentor's prospective," Mags says. "If our tributes have a good angle like you had last year then trying to find them will be super easy. Normally how you get a sponsor is when-" Mags is cut off by a knock at the door.

I get up and open the door and see an avox woman standing outside with a red envelope. I take the envelope from her, "thank you."

She nods and walks away as I close the door. "I guess this is a new mentor letter," I say to Mags.

"Well let's see," Mags says.

I sit down beside Mags and tear open the envelope. I barely unfold the paper before I see the title on the paper.

"Mags you can't see this."

"And why not?"

"I can't show this to you."

I turn away so Mags can't see the words.

The letter said, " _Finnick Odair I have requested a session with you tonight at 6:23 PM. Please stop by my apartment at Capitol Estate. My apartment is on the third floor and the door number is 179. Hope to see you then. – Charlotte."_

6:23 PM! Doesn't she know that the Tribute Parade will be going on at that time!

"Mags, I can't make it to the Tribute Parade tonight."

She nods as if she knew what was written on the letter, "I figured. It is ok Finnick, I can meet you back here when you're finished with what you are doing."

I looked at the clock which read 5:48, "I guess I should get ready. And you have to meet with Max and Maysie."

"I guess I do. I will meet you later Finnick," Mags says as she gets up to go to the Tribute Parade.

I go into my room to see if the Capitol left any suitable clothing to wear to this sessions. There is a black coat in the closet and a red scarf.

"I guess this will have to do," I say to myself.

I leave the shirt and pants I had on from this morning and put on my coat and scarf.

I leave the room and shut the door. I get into the elevator and so does another mentor. It's Cashmere.

"You look snazzy," she says.

"Thank you. Are you heading to the Tribute Parade?"

"Nope. I am going to the same building you are."

"How did you know about that?"  
"I got the same letter, just from a different person. I figured that since you got a lot of sponsors and you were the lover of the Capitol last year that you would end up in the same spot as me."

The elevator door opens and we walk into the Tribute Center lobby and head towards the door. Cashmere opens the door she says, "if Victors are considered desirable the Capitol allows this to happen, no matter what the age."

We walk to the building and then part ways once we are inside. I get into the elevator and press the number three. I reach the third floor and start searching for the room.

"Room 178, 179," I mumble. I take a big breath in and start to feel nervous and kind of frightened.

A woman in a red dress opens the door, "Oh Finnick darling please come in."  
Her apartment is filled with expensive furniture and it looks way nicer than my home in Victors Village.

"I loved sponsoring you last year during your games! I sent you that trident," she says.

"That was you? Well that was my favorite gift I got!"

"You're too cute! Before we start we need to discuss payment. How much money would you like?"

An idea sparked into my head. This would be the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the Capitol for forcing a fourteen year old into prostitution.

"I don't want your money."

"I have to pay you somehow, dear. What do you want instead of money?"

"Secrets."

"Well what kind of secrets?"

"Any kind."

Charlotte pauses to think for a moment, "Oh yes I do have one."

"Please, do tell."

"The Capitol is starting to send avoxes down into the Transfer."

"What is the Transfer?" I ask.

"It is a bunch of underground tunnels that trains and trucks move cargo in. Normally, people from District 6 worked in them because that is their industry. But now, Snow ordered avoxes to start working down in them."

"Well thank you for that," I say.

Charlotte smiles, "Now let's get on with our session."


	12. Chapter 12

"Thank you for your time," Charlotte says as I get ready to leave her apartment. "Oh, it was wonderful to meet you," I smile back at her.

Charlotte gives a small laugh and shuts the door. I walk away to put as much distance between myself and her as possible. How did the other Victors handle this?

On the other hand, I did manage to get a secret about the Capitol. Maybe all the people who want sessions will tell me secrets.

The streets of the Capitol aren't chaotic, probably because everyone is at the Tribute Parade. The Parade! I forgot about it completely.

I run as fast as I can to the Tribute Parade. When I get back I see Mags is with Maysie and Max.

"Finnick, did you get to see us?" Maysie asks.

"No, I couldn't make it. I'm sorry," I tell Maysie.

Maysie gives me a hug of forgiveness and I hug her back. Mags pats my shoulder, "shall we all go back to the room?"

We all go back upstairs to the room. Max runs and flops over on the couch, "can this be over yet?"

I laugh, "I know how you feel."

Max sits up so Maysie has a place to sit. Maysie sits down on the couch beside Max and starts taking out the headpiece that is in her hair.

"Tomorrow is one of three training days. Don't just practice the weapons, work on survival skills too," I tell the two as they look like they could fall asleep any second. "Try and make alliances too, be careful with who you choose to trust."

"Well I'm going to sleep, I cannot stay up any longer," Max says as he stands up and stretches.

"I think I will too," Maysie says.

I tell the two goodnight and they go to their rooms. Mags is sitting at the dinner table looking out the window.

I walk over and sit down beside her and lay my head down on the table. "Tough evening?" Mags asks.

"You wouldn't believe it. I did get a good form of payment."

"How much?" Mags asks.

"Not how much, but what."

"What did she pay you with?"

"I asked for secrets. Apparently the Capitol is sending Avoxes down into the Transfer to work with the District 6 workers."

"I can't imagine what it would be like to work down there. I wonder why the Capitol is keeping that a secret."

"Maybe there is a catch that they don't want the public or the districts to know," I add.

Mag nods and looks out the window, "Oh I almost forgot," she says standing up and heading to the kitchen. "I got you these."

She pulls out a bowl filled with sugar cubes and hands the bowl to me.

"Thank you so much, Mags," I tell her giving her a hug.

"Oh, it's no problem dear."

Minutes later I am the only one still up, sitting by the window finishing my sugar cubes. All the Capitol lights are going off and I watch the city go from light to darkness, just like that.

I grab a blanket off the couch and crouch down by the window, the empty bowl still in my hand. Tonight was going to be another one of those nights. You know, the ones with no sleep.

I watch out the window as peacekeepers roam the streets and hovercrafts fly out to the districts.

I must have fell asleep really late because when I wake up the sun is out.

"Did you have a good sleep, Finnick?" Mags asks.

"Better than normal," I say rubbing my eyes. "Where is Maysie and Max?"

"They went down to training. Would you like something to eat?" Mags asks.

I shake my head no, "what do we have to do while they are at training?"

"We stay here and wait till the evening when they come back."

Great, I wasn't leaving this place for three days. I pick up the blanket and put it back on the couch. "Do you think that those two will do well in the games?" I ask Mags.

Mags doesn't respond. "Mags did you hear me?"

"Finnick, I didn't answer because I don't want to bet on who will win. It makes me feel like I am being pulled into the games."

I can see her point of view and what she means. "I understand, I don't want to be like that either."

Mags comes over and gives me a side hug, "don't worry Finnick, I don't think you will."


	13. Chapter 13

"I hate training!" Maysie shouts as she slams shut the door. "No one wants to be in an alliance with me."

"Well it is only the first day," I tell her. "Did you try to talk to people or did you wait for people to come talk to you?"

Maysie sighs, "I waited for people to talk to me. But Max ended up in the Careers and they came up to him and didn't ask me to join."

I don't want to tell her the reason why they aren't choosing her. Telling her that she isn't strong enough or athletic enough isn't going to boost her confidence any.

"I wasn't in the Career pack either," I say trying to be reassuring.

"But you won your games," Maysie says as she sits down on the couch.

"That is true, but that shows you that you don't need an alliance to win. Maybe you could win these games without being in an alliance. Go solo."

She smiles, "I guess you're right."

Max walks in through the door, sweaty and it makes the room start to smell.

"I am exhausted," he says falling to the floor.

"How about you go shower," I tell him. I just want him to get out of the room because it is starting to stink.

"That is… a good idea," he says as if he is about to pass out.

Max crawls off the floor and heads to the bathroom.

The avox for our room brings in our dinner and sets it on the table. Mags walks out of her bedroom with a yawn. "Maysie how did your training go?"

"It was ok, I think I got everything figured out," she turns and smiles at me and I smile back.

Max walks out of the bathroom wearing some of the clothes that the Capitol provided.

We all head to the table and eat dinner. Tonight we are eating some turkey, mashed potatoes, and a small salad.

"I wish this was fish, no clam chowder, actually crab, lobster, goodness I don't even know!" Maysie says. I do wish we could be eating some of the classic District 4 foods.

Mags begins talking about the next two days of training and so forth. I can see that the two are listening closely to what Mags is saying and taking a mental note.

When Mags talks about alliances I can't help but think about Maysie. I told her to stay alone during the games, but I'm starting to wish I didn't tell her that. I need to come up with a way to keep her alive.

The evening goes on, Mags and Maysie have went to bed, and I am sitting on the couch doing absolutely nothing.

I see Max stand up and start to head towards his room. "Max can you come here for second?"

"Finnick, I want to go to sleep."

"Just come here, this is important."

Max walks over and sits down beside me on the couch. "Ok, I'm over here," he says as he rubs his eyes.

"Maysie told me she wasn't able to make any friends to form an alliance with. I told her to try and go off by herself, but I want someone to be there to help her if she needs it."

"So you are saying that you want me to help her out in the arena?" Max asks.

"Would you? I want you two to be a team," I tell him.

Max sighs, "I can try. Now can I go to sleep?"

I laugh a little, "yeah go to bed, you have training tomorrow."

"Goodnight Finnick."

"Night," I reply.

The city lights go out just like the night before. I internally debate with myself on where I want to sleep.

" _Window? Bed? Window? Bed? Window? Bed? Screw it I'm going to bed."_

I drag myself into my room, put on my pajamas, and get into bed. I face the window and watch the remainder of the lights go off in the city, the only lights keeping the city lit are the stars and the moon peeking through the gray clouds.

"Two more days," I tell myself. "Two more days."

And I fall asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

I turn on the TV since I don't have anything to do for the whole day. Mags went down to the training center with Maysie and Max.

The only thing we can really watch in the Capitol is what is on Capitol TV, which is mostly used for news broadcasts and viewing the games as I found out last year during my own games.

The first thing I see on the TV is an interview with the head gamemaker. Caesar asks him to sit down beside him and then they start their interview.

"Have your opinions changed on any of the tributes since the Tribute Parade and since we are now in our second day of training?" Caesar asks.

"I can definatlly say we have a great group this year," he says. "I see great changes and improvements in all the tributes."

"Now let's talk about District 4," Caesar says.

District 4? What is going on with District 4 that we need to be talked about in an interview?

"Last year District 4 had a surprising victory and a young one too," Caesar continues.

Great, so they are bringing up my games. They probably know about the sessions too, unless President Snow is keeping that a secret from everyone. Everyone in the Capitol is good at keeping secrets.

"Do you think that there could be another victory like the 65th games this year in the 66th games?"

"Now I'm not supposed to discuss what I think the outcome of the games will be, but you never know what could happen." The gamemaker looks down at his shiny gold watch, "I better get to the training center."

"Well it was great talking to you!" Caesar says. I shut the TV off.

Mags walks through the door, "What's been on the TV today?"

I shake my head, "they were interviewing the head gamemaker. Asking him questions about his opinion on the games, talked about who they thought would win, brought up my victory from last year."

Mags shakes her head too, "well I don't know what to say. The games have gotten worse since mine."

I stare into space before asking, "have you watched your games, you know, ever since your big win?"

Mags laughs and pats my shoulder, "Finnick I don't want to watch my games ever. I think living them was horrific enough."

"I know how you feel, I was just wondering."

"Some Victors had a bad aftermath after their games," Mags says.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'll just tell you this one story," Mags says.

She sits down by me on the couch. I turn and face her so she knows I am listening.

"During the 50th games it was the final fight between Haymitch, from District 12, and a girl from District 1. Haymitch had found out that the forcefield could shoot things back at you if you throw an item like a rock or stick," Mags explains. "The girl from District 1 threw her axe at Haymitch, he was already pretty injured to begin with, and he ducked and the axe hit the forcefield and came back and lodged into the girl's head."

"So he killed her, that's what you're supposed to do in the game."

"That's the thing," Mags says. "The Capitol took it as an act of defiance and killed his family. That's why he didn't get sold like you and Cashmere."

"So by him doing that and saving his life the Capitol killed his family?"

Mags shakes her head, "that's why most Victors don't want to watch their games."

I know for myself I don't want to watch my own games. I can see too that Haymitch and I have similar stories as for what happened after our games. It's kind of nice to have someone that I can relate to.

Our avox brings in some lunch for Mags and I. Our lunch is basically what we ate yesterday night for dinner since that's all the Capitol knows how to feed us is leftovers.

As I eat my leftovers I imagine that it is food from back home and to my surprise it makes lunch much better.

"Did Maysie and Max say anything when you took them to the training center?" I ask Mags.

"Maysie just said that she was worried about the games. I guess she doesn't think she will last very long."

I can understand her point. I felt the same during my games. "She just needs the confidence."

Mags smiles, "confidence is key."


	15. Chapter 15

"Today is the day," I say to Maysie and Max. "Killing people can wait at first. Your top priority should be to find food and water."

"Thanks Finnick," Maysie says to me.

I look up at the clock that is on the wall and see that it is time to go. Mags and I walk them down to the hovercraft and then they are gone.

"How long do you think they'll last?" I ask Mags.

Mags just shakes her head, "I honestly don't know with this bunch."

I want one of my tributes to win, that would be nice since this is my first year as a mentor.

Mags and I walk back to the Tribute Center and head down to the control room to meet all the other mentors.

When I walk in the room everyone stares at me. Probably because I am the youngest in there.

On the screen it shows the tubes starting to rise up out of the ground. The arena is a freezing cold tundra with a forest, mountains, and a lot of snow.

"They are going to freeze to death!" I try and whisper to Mags.

"Just give them a chance," she replies.

"Ladies and gentleman let the 66th Hunger Games begin!"

The clock starts counting down from 10 and I feel as if I am in the games again. My heart starts racing as I fear for my tributes.

The clock hits 1 and everyone heads towards the Cornucopia. Everyone.

I spot Maysie hovering over a backpack and Max grabbing a small sword.

The boy from District 1 comes over towards Maysie. She tries fighting back, but he snaps her neck and she dies instantly.

"I told them not to go to the middle," I mumble.

Mags puts her hand on my shoulder, "Max is still alive. Maybe he can make it till the end."

Max is running of into the forest with his sword. As he runs through the woods cannon after cannon fires.

Hours go by until it is finally night in the arena. Max watches the fallen tributes and then goes to sleep.

"Is he going to make a fire? He is going to freeze to death!"

"Finnick, stop stressing. He will be fine," Mags assures me.

A woman comes into the control room, "Finnick Odair?"

I turn around and walk over towards her, "I'm Finnick."

She smiles and hands me an envelope, "this is for you."

I step out of the control room and open up the envelope.

 _To Finnick,_

 _I have arranged a session with you for tonight at 7:30. I hope I enjoy my time with you! My address is Apartment 17 A, just two blocks north of the Tribute Center._

I look all around the paper. There is no name listed.

I sigh and walk back into the control room. I lean down by Mags, "I have to go. I'll be back soon"

Mags grabs my arm and gives a sad look.

I put on my coat and head out of the Tribute Center and head to the address.

I find the building and head up to the apartment room. I knock on the door hoping no one will answer.

The doorknob turns and a woman with blue hair and long green eyelashes answers the door.

"Oh Finnick! What a joy it is to finally meet you," she says as she shoves me in the door.

"Well it is a joy to meet you," I say with a smile. "I was with the other mentors when I got your message."

She acts as if she is about to cry, "Oh dear, I had no idea."

"Gorgeous it is alright," I say kissing her hand.

She has a nasty lotion on her hand and I try to not gag after kissing her hand. I subtly try to wipe off my mouth.

She laughs, "how much do you take for payment?"

"I don't take money."

She looks confused, "what do you take then?"

I lean over to her ear, "secrets," I whisper.

She thinks for a moment, "secrets? Well I heard that people are betting on that kid from District 1 to win the games."

So everyone thinks District 1 will win. We continue on with the session and when the hour is up I run all the way back to the tribute center.

"Max still alive?" I ask Mags.

"Barely, that kid from District 6 is going insane!" Mags says.

"Titus? What is he doing?"

"He is going cannibal. They had to cut out two of his kills."

I turn and look at the screen. Who knows maybe a cannibal will win the games.


End file.
